Difficult to clip...

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spotty_pony

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I tried to clip my pony a couple of weeks ago, for the first time myself. He has always been a bit ticklish and when he has been clipped before by other people I have had to help by holding him and he has had to be twitched to be clipped around his head and under his belly.

This time however he was really bad, he just kept barging me around and kicking out, even with someone holding him. He ended up having to be twitched for the whole thing which wasn’t ideal. I originally wanted to give him a blanket clip but ended up just giving him a trace with fairly decent lines (well as decent as I could get them considering how bad he was being!

However, his hair is growing back and it won’t be long before he needs clipping again. I was wondering whether it would just be easier to get him sedated? Would this be kinder to him? And also safer for me and everyone else? Are there any side effects from using sedation? How effective is it? How long does it last for?

Also, what do those of you do with horses which are hard to clip?

Any advice much appreciated.
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our neighbours had a horse that was a nightmare to clip and they use sedalin.. works really well, you can get it from the vet and use it about 30 mins before clipping.
Or if you dont want to use something as strong try naf instant magic..
 
one of my mares is the spawn of satan when it comes to her being clipped - she rears, cow kicks, barges etc everything.

im not a huge fan of constantly sedating her through the clipping season so have gone down natural horsemanship with her - works out cheaper and she is much happier. my trainer comes to hold her and uses a combination of a rope halter and a lip rope.
 
There are loads of de-sensitising techniques that can be used to teach the horse to relax and accept the clippers, and some very quiet clippers that vibrate less harshly.

However, if you clip a couple of times a year, I'd go for Sedalin.
 
unfortunately mine isnt scrade of the noise or the vibration. i can hold the clippers on her body and she doesnt flinch - it is the clipping action - we believe she has either been electrocuted or clipped wth blunt blades before i got her.

also sedalin wont work on my mare. She fights IV sedatives and has to have a dose that would knock an elephant out - i had a new vet come once to sedate her as my vet was on leave - he had to ring her to double check the dose that id got written down was correct as she is that bad.
 
What a nightmare Daisy. We have a horse like that on our yard, and he just has to stay wooly - there is no way of clipping. ACPs don't seem that useful in these instances in my experience - I knew a 13.2 pony who took off with several grown men hanging off it after a triple dose...
 
that is some pony! i remember a friend of mine insisted that he could help me clip her with just a twitch and he said he felt safer if we clipped out of the stable. well we took one strip of fur off, she ran backwards kicking all the way, smashing the tap off the wall in the process till she got out of the stable block then stood like a lamd. he then agreed shes best inside and to get the vet lol.
shes now no longer in work in winter so is happy looking like a muddy yak
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Clicker - worked wonders for my IDxTB when we had to clip his leg for medical treatment. Takes a bit of patience but has long term results- by the end of our few sessions he was keeping his leg glued to the floor to be clipped - he wasn't moving it out of the way of anything! I've got an old 'essay' I can send to you if you're interested.
 
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